Storm damages Florida State MagLab, operations suspended

The storms damaged what many Tallahassee residents consider the city’s first line of defense against severe weather.

The National High Magnetic Fields Laboratory suffered damage Friday after tornadoes and thunderstorms tore through the city that morning, knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents and felling trees. on cars and houses.

The Mag Lab has suspended operations for high-field magnet users next week “as a precaution,” Florida State University spokesman Dennis Schnittker told the Democrat.

Early Friday evening, university teams were assessing the damage and cleaning up.

The MagLab houses the most powerful magnet in the world. More than 30,500 physicists, chemists, biologists and engineers from 54 countries have worked at the laboratory since its establishment in 1994. More than 1,700 scientists use the laboratory for their research each year. Local lore has long held that magnetic resonance directs storms around Florida’s capital.

As for FSU’s main campus, Schnittker said he expected power to be restored by the evening.

Other parts of the FSU campus were also affected by the storm.

Near the football stadium, tornado-force winds tore the “Flying High” circus tent to the ground.

The tent material twisted around the gnarled metal beams on the soggy ground, and the circular bleachers were broken in several places.

Dick Howser Stadium’s tall green fence in right field fell and leaned over the rest of the right field wall Friday morning. The right field foul pole was also bent sharply to the right.

Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.